Applying together

With the advent of no fault divorce or dissolution, it is possible for both parties to apply together through what is called a “joint application”. Whilst it is possible for one lawyer to support both parties through the divorce / dissolution process, the difficulty can arise where there are also financial matters or children arrangements to sort out as well.

There are two potential problems with a lawyer representing both parties. Firstly the risk of a “conflict of interest” arising. This is where two parties have different interests i.e. one is seeking one particular outcome and the other party is seeking a different one. A lawyer often represents a party in a divorce by putting forward arguments on their behalf. If that lawyer is trying to represent both parties, especially if there is disagreement between the parties, there is a conflict arising from two different and competing interests.

The second problem that can arise is that of “confidentiality”. A lawyer has a duty of confidentiality to their client, that is to say that in most instances what a client says to their must be kept absolutely confidential and only disclosed with the client’s permission. However, at the same time they have a duty to act in their client’s best interests so that if they know something they should generally tell their client .If a lawyer is representing two different parties they can find themselves in a difficult situation where they have been given information by both clients and neither wants to share all of that information with the other and the lawyer is caught in the middle. This challenge can be overcome with some careful planning and agreement but it is difficult. Our approach is that we believe we should only act for one party in divorce or dissolution proceedings to avoid these issues arising.

If one party does not want to engage a lawyer for the divorce then they can do so, but we would always recommend they sought advice about financial matters or children arrangements so they fully understand how the law applies to them.